Udup, Mar 23, 2017i : Police have arrested a seven member gang in connection with the case of kidnap and robbery of a jeweller from Thrissur in Kerala. The incident was reported from Manipal on March 17 when the jeweller named Dilip T D was on way to Udupi from Hiriadka. Police have also recovered 867 grams of gold worth Rs 24 lakhs and a cash of Rs 60,000 from the accused. The assailants had stolen 1.5 kg of gold ornaments and a cash of Rs 2,57,200 from the victim. Police have also seized a Maruti Ritz and Chevrolet Sail car from the accused.

Informing this to reporters here on March 22, Thursday, Udupi SP K T Balakrishna said the victim jeweller used to supply gold ornaments from Thrissur for sale in shops in Mangaluru, Udupi, Karkala and other paces in exchange for cash.

The SP stated that the prime accused in the case Harikrishna Bhat (25) owned Gayatri Jewellers at Perdoor and hailed from Ugranibettu Harikhandige and that Dilip used to sell his gold at his shop too. Police suspected that in order to earn easy money Bhat hatched the conspiracy to kidnap Dilip with the help of his accomplices.

The others arrested in the case are Muhammed Irfan alias Irfan (30) of Hemmady in Kundapur taluk, Javed (25) from Kodavoor , Ashraf (34) of Vinaya Nagara near Belapu, Ilahid alias Manzoor Ilahid (24) of Hemmady in Kundapur, Ravichandra N alias Ravi (41) of Kergal in Kundapur taluk and Sumant Kumar (24) of Kirimanjeshwar in Kundapur taluk. Of the seven, Irfan had some cases against him in Bhatkal while Ravichandran had as many as eight cases.

The SP also stated that the pistol which the assailants had pointed at Dilip during kidnapping was a toy pistol. He even informed that the jeweller did not have 1.5 kg gold while he was kidnapped and the 867 grams gold which was seized was all that he had. He also stated that the jeweller did not possess any document regarding the gold he had and the bills of the sold jewellery.

The arrests were done under the directions of the SP and guidance of Additional SP N Vishnuvardhan by DySP S J Kumaraswamy, DCIB Inspector Sampat Kumar as well as Brahmavar, Kaup and Hiriyadka police officials.

The SP said the IGP of Western Range has announced cash reward for the police team which was part of the operation.